Quiz time. If the city of Springfield has a little more than half the population of St. Louis, do shoppers here buy:

A) Half as much as St. Louis?

B) A third?

C) Even less?

Sorry, time’s up. It’s none of the above. It’s probably more than you think — a lot more.

A News-Leader analysis of state taxable sales reports found that the top three highest-grossing localities in the state match, in order, the state’s three biggest cities: Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield. But the gap between the latter two is probably not what you’d expect. And, it has narrowed greatly over the years.

In 1990, the city of St. Louis — to be clear, we’re not talking about the entire metro area — saw $3.08 billion in taxable sales, second highest after Kansas City. The city of Springfield, meanwhile, came in at third-highest that year, with $1.86 billion — 39.8 percent lower than St. Louis.

By last year, St. Louis’ lead had narrowed to just 4.3 percent — $4.58 billion in taxable sales to Springfield’s $4.38 billion.

In 1990, the city of St. Louis — to be clear, we’re not talking about the entire metro area — saw $3.08 billion in taxable sales, second highest after Kansas City.(Photo: File Photo)

So the answer to the quiz above is that Springfield shoppers buy 95.7 percent of what St. Louis shoppers buy, even though St. Louis has a population nearly double than that of Springfield — 317,419 to 165,378 in 2014, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

The size of the gap between the two cities — and the degree to which it’s been narrowing for a quarter century — illustrates the extent to which, while the municipalities around Springfield continue to grow in population, the city remains a hub for regional retail activity. In the St. Louis area, however, a significant amount of that activity has followed the population as it has dispersed to the suburbs.

“We’re still kind of an economic center that encompasses shopping, jobs, medical care,” City of Springfield Finance Director Mary Mannix-Decker told the News-Leader. “I’m not sure you see that trend happening in St. Louis.”

St. Louis’ declining lead over Springfield can be seen in taxable sales reports available on the Missouri Department of Revenue’s website. Taxable sales includes all purchases subject to sales tax, which is pretty straightforward, as well as use tax. A use tax is essentially a tax on out-of-state purchases that are used in Missouri; if you purchase a vehicle from another state, for example, you pay a use tax when you register in Missouri.

While Springfield was 39.8 percent behind St. Louis city in 1990, that decreased to 22.8 percent in 1995, and 11.7 percent in 2000, and single digits every year since 2003. The 4.3 percent gap in the 2014 calendar year was the lowest ever.

“I think it’s significant, and when we talk about sales tax at the city, we talk about what a high per capita revenue we have,” Mannix-Decker said.

It’s interesting to note that Kansas City, the state’s largest city that has long been No. 1 in terms of gross taxable sales, has largely maintained its lead. In 1990, Springfield’s taxable sales were 58.9 percent lower than Kansas City. In 2014, when Kansas City saw $8.55 billion in taxable sales, the gap was still 48.8 percent. The trends negatively impacting St. Louis in this particular case — and positively impacting Springfield — don’t appear to extend to Kansas City.

It’s interesting to note that Kansas City, the state’s largest city that has long been No. 1 in terms of gross taxable sales, has largely maintained its lead.(Photo: File Photo)

Multiple factors likely have some impact on the narrowing of the gap between Springfield and St. Louis. The latter has been losing population for decades.

Since 1990 — the first year for which the Department of Revenue has taxable sales records online — St. Louis has lost more than 75,000 residents; Springfield, meanwhile, has gained almost 25,000 people in that time. But St. Louis is still far larger than Springfield. And both cities have a similar median household income (about $32,500 in Springfield versus $34,500 in St. Louis) and a similar percent of individuals below the poverty level (25.6 percent in Springfield, versus 27.4 percent in St. Louis) — two factors that would naturally factor into residents’ ability to spend and be taxed.

The primary difference seems to be the regional makeup of the two areas. St. Louis is a major city that has sprawled across the adjacent county. Far from being bedroom communities, these municipalities have economic activity of their own, and residents don’t need to head to the city for their shopping needs.

Springfield is a small city — or large town, as some would say — that has also seen comparatively fast growth of surrounding municipalities. Both Nixa and Ozark, for example, had about 5,000 residents in 1990; today, Ozark has about 18,000, and Nixa around 20,000. But many of these residents are returning to Springfield to shop, giving the city more taxable sales than one might think given its population.

While communities like Republic and Nixa have seen the arrival of big-box retailers like Walmart and Lowe’s, Springfield still has the only locations for many national chains like Best Buy, Mannix-Decker noted, and it still has the area’s only full-size mall.

While communities like Republic and Nixa have seen the arrival of big-box retailers like Walmart and Lowe’s, Springfield still has the only locations for many national chains like Best Buy, Mannix-Decker noted, and it still has the area’s only full-size mall.(Photo: David Paul Morris, Bloomberg)

In January 2009, with voters preparing to weigh in on whether to approve a 1-cent sales tax increase in Springfield (they rejected it, but a 3/4-cent increase passed later in the year), city officials estimated 50 percent of city sales tax was paid by non-Springfield residents. The city noted the non-residents benefit from city police, fire and other services while they are in town.

Springfield’s ability to maintain its status as a retail hub is reassuring news for city government. In much of Springfield, the sales tax rate is assessed at 7.6 cents per dollar, though rates vary in certain taxing districts and for certain goods like groceries. But generally, of that 7.6 cents, 4.225 cents goes to the state, 1.25 cents goes to Greene County and the city gets 2.125 cents.

Springfield’s hub status has created challenges, however, for leaders in Christian County. As municipalities there have grown, taxable sales have increased some — $48.3 million in Ozark in 1990, for example, compared to $256.6 million in 2014 — but county leaders still lament the degree to which residents leave the county to purchase goods and services.

Breaking down spending in Springfield

While the taxable sales at any given business are considered confidential, the state does provide aggregated information on taxable sales that provide some insight into Springfield-area shopping habits. The figures, which are included in the city’s comprehensive annual financial reports, focus on various aspects of the local economy.

The city reports cover fiscal years, which run from July to June, so some figures don’t match exactly with calendar year data available on the Missouri Department of Revenue’s website.

During fiscal 2014, Springfield saw taxable sales of $4.1 billion. It was the city’s first time above $4 billion since the 2007 fiscal year; taxable sales dipped as low as $3.5 billion in fiscal 2009, and have gradually climbed as the country moved out of the recession.

The Missouri Department of Revenue divides taxable sales into 10 categories, with data available from the 2006 to 2014 fiscal years. Four categories were highest in fiscal 2014:

• General merchandise, with $885 million in sales. That was 2.8 percent higher than the figure for fiscal 2006.

• Food stores, with $370 million in sales. That was 34.6 percent higher than 2006.

• Eating and drinking establishments, with $490 million in sales. That was 30 percent higher than 2006, and the category saw largely steady growth during the recession, with a drop only between 2009 and 2010.

• Service stations, with $76 million in sales. That was 34.1 percent higher than 2006.

Food stores, with $370 million in sales. That was 34.6 percent higher than 2006.(Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

Other categories established by the department are apparel stores ($172 million in taxable sales in Springfield in fiscal 2014), home furnishing and appliances ($246 million), building materials and farm tools ($307 million), auto dealers and supplies ($105 million), other retail stores ($455 million) and all other outlets ($995 million).

The Springfield ZIP code that sees the most business?

That would be 65804, which generally comprises the southeast quadrant of the city, and includes Battlefield Mall and the many businesses that line South Glenstone Avenue. The ZIP code saw $1.1 billion in taxable sales in the 2014 calendar year, according to the Department of Revenue. That made it the third highest-grossing ZIP code in the state, behind only 63011 (a portion of St. Louis County, including Ballwin and Manchester, with $1.25 billion in sales) and 65616 (in the Branson area, also with $1.25 billion).

The second highest-grossing ZIP code in Springfield in 2014 was 65807 — the city’s southwest quadrant — with $867 million.